Case law

Edward J. Miller v. Dr. Robert Schoenen and Dr. David White

75 F.3d 1305 · Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit · Feb 15, 1996

As we discussed in Reece , however, the qualified-immunity question involves more than merely determining whether the law governing a plaintiff’s claim is “clearly established.” … That is the “clearly established” law.

Swanson v. Powers

937 F.2d 965 · Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit · Jun 25, 1991

The requirement, after all, is that the law be clearly established, not simply possibly established or even probably established. … The right to due process, for example, might be considered clearly established because of the Constitution's Due Process Clause; however, "if the test of 'clearly established law' were to be applied at this level of generality

Smith v. Reddy

101 F.3d 351 · Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit · Nov 27, 1996

Law enforcement officers are entitled to qualified immunity from § 1983 liability arising from their official discretionary acts that do not "violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of … If the right was not clearly established at the relevant time or if a reasonable officer might not have known his or her conduct violated that right, the officer is entitled to immunity.

Gordon v. Maesaka-Hirata.

431 P.3d 708 · Hawaii Supreme Court · Nov 2, 2018

As the circuit court initially correctly noted, the “clearly established right” portion of the two-part qualified immunity standard employs a reasonableness test. … In evaluating an official’s claim of qualified immunity, however, courts should not “define clearly established law at a high level of generality.” al-Kidd, 563 U.S. at 742.

Jolene Waldron v. Gregory Spicher

954 F.3d 1297 · Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit · Mar 25, 2020

ANALYSIS “Qualified immunity protects government officials from liability for civil damages unless they violate a statutory or constitutional right that was clearly established at the time the alleged violation took … The district court denied the deputy’s invocation of qualified immunity, and we reversed.

Wiles

District Court, D. Kansas · Apr 3, 2026

Kan. 2015) (“Qualified immunity shields federal and state officials from money damages unless a plaintiff establishes (1) that the official violated a statutory or constitutional right and (2) that right was ‘clearly established … his right to seek judicial review under the KJRA was not “clearly established.”22 Accordingly, Dr. Rezac is entitled to qualified immunity on Dr. Wiles’s individual-capacity claim against her. Dr.

Jerica Moore-Jones v. Anthony Quick

909 F.3d 983 · Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit · Nov 28, 2018

Quick is entitled to qualified immunity unless his “conduct violated a clearly established constitutional or statutory right of which a reasonable officer would have known.” Cravener v. … The district court erred in concluding Moore-Jones’s right was clearly established. Quick is entitled to qualified immunity. This also resolves Moore-Jones’s state-law, excessive-force claims. See Baldridge v.

Noble v. Adams

646 F.3d 1138 · Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Mar 17, 2011

during a lockdown imposed in the aftermath of a prison riot was not “clearly established” in 2002. … This scenario is precisely what the doctrine of qualified immunity is designed to cover.

Nusbaum v. Terrangi

210 F. Supp. 2d 784 · District Court, E.D. Virginia · Jul 19, 2002

Good Faith Qualified Immunity Qualified immunity provides that “government officials performing discretionary functions generally are shielded from liability for civil damages insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly … If the law as to this issue with respect to these particular defendants is not clearly established for qualified immunity purposes, district court rulings would essentially have no practical effect; defendants could continue

Stone v. The Board of County Commissioners for the County of Quay

District Court, D. New Mexico · Aug 2, 2024

Thus, in general, when a defendant asserts the defense of qualified immunity on a motion to dismiss, the district court must stay discovery until the immunity issue is resolved. … (quoting Mitchell, 472 U.S. at 526 (“Unless the plaintiff’s allegations state a claim of violation of clearly established law, a defendant pleading qualified immunity is entitled to dismissal before the commencement of

Conn v. City of Reno

572 F.3d 1047 · Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Jul 24, 2009

Qualified immunity We next assess whether summary judgment is warranted because the defendants are entitled to qualified immunity. … Officers are entitled to qualified immunity if they reasonably misapprehend how the law would govern in their particular situation. Id at 205, 121 S.Ct. 2151 . Qualified immunity is not warranted here.

Aleia Tousis v. Keith Billiot

84 F.4th 692 · Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · Oct 18, 2023

right; and whether the right at issue was “clearly established” at the time of the officer’s alleged misconduct. … We exercise our discretion to focus on the second prong of the qualified immunity test in deciding this issue: whether Billiot’s use of deadly force in this situation violated clearly established law.

Ajaj v. Federal Bureau of Prisons

25 F.4th 805 · Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit · Feb 9, 2022

The defense of qualified immunity is a judicially recognized doctrine that shields government officials “from liability for civil damages insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional … Thus, the same context that supported a RFRA damages remedy also supported the application of qualified-immunity doctrine, which limits individual liability to violations of clearly established law.

Bechard v. Rappold

287 F.3d 827 · Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Apr 19, 2002

But the application of the legislative immunity doctrine to local legislators, such as county commissioners, is now well-established. See Bogan, 523 U.S. at 49 , 118 S.Ct. 966 . … In that light, it cannot be said that undisputed facts establish that the conduct of the Commissioners surrounding the termination was solely budgetary and legislative in nature.

Stewart v. Baldwin County Board of Education

908 F.2d 1499 · Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit · Aug 15, 1990

QUALIFIED IMMUNITY Defendants appeal the refusal of the district court to grant summary judgment in their favor on the basis of their qualified immunity defense. … Dollar, 841 F.2d 1558, 1564 (11th Cir.1988). 1 If the law that the defendants allegedly violated was not clearly established, then the defendants are entitled to qualified immunity. See Daniel v.

Lockner v. Pierce Cnty.

190 Wash. 2d 526 · Washington Supreme Court · Apr 19, 2018

App. 177 , 184, 6 P.3d 1191 (2000), aff'd , 144 Wash.2d 612 , 30 P.3d 460 (2001). ¶ 13 To qualify for immunity under RCW 4.24.210, the landowner must establish that the land at issue was (1) open to members of the public … Clearly, mixed public and other uses do not defeat immunity since the legislature amended RCW 4.24.210 to include land used for hydroelectric *533 power plants.

Rodriguez v. Connecticut

169 F. Supp. 2d 39 · District Court, D. Connecticut · Sep 4, 2001

Qualified Immunity Standard The prison officials seek summary judgment on the ground that they have qualified immunity as to claims brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 . … of qualified immunity.

Pense v. Md. Dep't of Pub. Safety & Corr. Servs.

926 F.3d 97 · Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit · Jun 11, 2019

It is firmly established that we possess jurisdiction for this interlocutory review of the Immunity Decision pursuant to the collateral order doctrine. See P.R. Aqueduct & Sewer Auth. v. … By “draw[ing] upon principles of sovereign immunity,” the Supreme Court has “construe[d] the Amendment to establish that an unconsenting State is immune from suits brought in federal courts by her own citizens as well as

Jose Manuel Figueroa-Rodriguez v. Aurelio Lopez-Rivera, Etc., Luis J. Gonzalez-Gonzalez v. Carmen Sonia Zayas, Etc., Victor M. Fontane-Rexach v. Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority

878 F.2d 1478 · Court of Appeals for the First Circuit · Apr 25, 1989

In Mendez-Palou, 813 F.2d at 1259 , this circuit said that the question in a "qualified immunity" case, such as this one, is "whether [at the time of dismissal] it was clearly established that employees in the particular … It concluded that the defendants had not established a "qualified immunity" defense.

Michael Bearden v. Dudley Lemon, Individually and in His Official Capacity as the Sheriff of Cleburne County

475 F.3d 926 · Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit · Feb 2, 2007

Further, “[t]his court has ... taken a broad view of what constitutes ‘clearly established law’ for the purposes of a qualified immunity inquiry....” Sexton 210 F.3d at 909 (quoting Boswell v. … “[I]f the law claimed to have been violated was clearly established, the qualified immunity defense ordinarily fails, ‘since a reasonably competent public official should know the law governing his conduct.’ ” Id. at 910